Tobold mentioned it recently, and WoWInsider too. And I’m pretty sure I raised the issue a long while back in a comment on Tobold’s in a crafting post he made.

Anyway, Woodworking.

They’d be able to craft shields. Better woodworking, better shields and higher level. How about customizing shields then. Make Paladin, Shaman, and Warrior shields custom tailored for their requirements.

Arrows. Allow woodworking to craft arrows that address certain needs. Fire Arrow for a small aoe fire burst on hit. Ice Arrow to impart a little slowing on the target. Hate Arrow to act as a taunt. Pain Arrow to add a dot. Useable by anyone that can use a bow or crossbow. (And not equipped in the ammo slot. Simply when used, if equipped with bow or crossbow, fires as the next shot as if in the ammo slot.) This would give non-hunters, but users of bows or crossbows, a few more situational options.

Tribal armor. Made of wood. Like the Forest Troll shoulders. The one like the Horde gets with AB rep. Primitive but “Green.” Al Gore would be proud of me. (But is chopping down the forests really PC? I think not.)

Which leads me to custom crafted equipment. Why not allow the ability of include “of the Bear” or “of the Tiger” customization to gear? Using various gems in the standard recipe for blacksmiths, or essences and such, for leatherworking. This would make those crafts a lot more useful for various talent choices.

And, then, woodworking can make basic equipment and ammo for folks just like engineering can.

Oh, how about traps. Like Grizzly Adams. Make a wood contraption that acts like a hunter’s trap. (Useable only by woodworkers.)

Or, how about a temporary stable? You know if your stables are full, and you dismiss your pet, you can tame another pet. You’re last active pet just disappears into the ether. That’s new, but get rid of that. It’s not well implemented. How about make a temporary “Dog House” that you can pull out, stable your pet, tame a new one, learn it’s ability, abandon, and retrieve your old pet back out of the Dog House.

Speaking of dog houses, I’d better go because I’ll be in one shortly if I don’t.

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My ranking of crafting professions in WoW, based on overall usefulness (1-375, not just 375/specialization), materials availability / skill-up difficulty, and ability to disseminate product:1Jewelcrafting (their own faction that even gives them mats, fills slots that were tough for lowbies to fill pre-BC, very wide-ranging product that is sellable & socketable by non-jewelcrafters)2-4 Leatherworking (ease of mats, great usability by leather/mail classes, kits usable by all)Enchanting (tougher mats balanced some by d/e of junk quest rewards and unneeded instance drops, great products but only applicable by the enchanter)Alchemy (ease of mats, great usability by all classes)5-6Engineering (some decent goods / gear and some engineer-only quest stuff, but wide range of mats [leather, cloth, ore, gems], usability often limited to engineers)Tailoring (bags… need I say more? But gear along the way often not tailored [pun intended] to priest / mage / warlock and their various specs like shadow, holy, fire, frost; too often not really better than quest reward gear)7Blacksmithing (mats not bad [though shared with jewelcrafters and engineers], can make sharpening stones and enchanting rods, but gear not tailored to prot/DPS warrior or pally, and often not better than quest rewards along the way; remember how the Consortium giveth jewelcrafting mats? The Mithril Order and Thorium Brotherhood taketh away…)

If I could suggest a change, it would be to first off re-balance the existing crafts. Such as making blacksmithing and tailoring crafted gear as useful to target classes / specs as is leatherworking gear. Be fair; if good design is for jewelcrafters have a faction to give them mats, then provided the same for other crafting classes. If good design is for jewelcrafters to not have to do the socketing, then give enchanters the option to create glyphs. If jewelcrafters get a wide-ranging host of customizable gems (just take a look at the wowwiki gem chart!), then give the other classes a host of gear options.

Man, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. What a great idea for a profession.

As for my preferred professions: coming at it from the gold-monger’s POV, I almost always end up with mining and enchanting, or herbalism and enchanting. Aside from how easy and lucrative selling enchant mats is on the AH, it helps alleviate the OCD twitch I get everytime I have to vendor a soulbound item. lol